Veritas Hominum
by Eilan-san
Summary: [PostSeries] He's returned home after fifteen years, but after living in a world without alchemy for so long, can he readjust? And are there people out there that would seek to abuse his knowledge? [EdWinry] Completed.
1. Arrival

**_Arrival_**

Coming home had been bittersweet. It had been naïve of him to assume that the world he'd left would have been the same as he'd left it. Still, he doubted that he expected it to have changed as much as it had.

He'd come crashing through the dark pines out under a clear, blue sky with his thoroughly rusted automail leg dragging behind him and the automail arm swinging uselessly at his side.

His first realization that things had changed in the fifteen years he'd been gone came in the form of new gravestone in the small cemetery in front of him. He saw his mother's grave, and the grave of his childhood friend's parents, but he also saw a stone bearing the name of Pinako Rockbell.

He sank to the ground, unable to breathe. The woman who had been a surrogate parent to him and his brother was gone and the shock overwhelmed him.

_What else could have changed while I was gone?_

His mind raced. Did Winry get married? Is Al happy? Did the Colonel ever become Fuhrer?

He could see the Rockbell residence in the distance. There was smoke pouring out of the chimney, so even if Winry didn't live there anymore, somebody did. Maybe they would know where she went.

As he walked towards it, he saw that the remains of his own home had been cleared away. Any trace that the Elric Family lived in Risembool had been cleared away, save for the grave of one Trisha Elric, his mother.

It was as if he never existed in this world.

He knocked on the door anyway, trembling and tired.

He held his breath as the door opened.


	2. Homecoming

**_Homecoming_**

"I'm right here, Ben, you don't have to yell," Winry admonished, leaning on the doorframe.

"You have a visitor," he said. Ben motioned to the person behind him. He turned out of the way and what she saw stopped her breath.

Edward Elric was standing on the walk to her house.

She let her eyes drink him in: his brown coat was shabby and poorly made, and he wore his bright blond hair in a ponytail instead of the braid she remembered. He was taller now, taller than her, in fact. She had to look up at him, which is something she'd never really thought she'd ever have to do. There was something deep and painful in his eyes, as if that burden he'd been carrying around since his brother had lost his body had only grown larger over the past fifteen years. _He must not know then…_

Her eyes narrowed as the condition of his automail arm and leg caught her eye. They were clearly no longer functioning.

She snapped her head back up to look at him. He was looking at her with a sheepish look, as if he was unsure of what to say. Before she could stop herself, she blurted out: "Don't tell me you've just come back for a repair."

He looked at her with a sad smile before lowering his gaze to the ground. "No, I haven't."

_His voice changed. It's much deeper than it used to be. _

Winry hesitantly took a few steps towards him, "Is it really you?" She really didn't want to be wrong. She took another step, "Ed?"

He lifted his head and caught her questioning gaze. His eyes shone with repressed tears of happiness, as if he couldn't believe he was really there either. He very slowly nodded his head.

She had the sudden desire to reach out, touch him; validate his existence in her world. It had been so long, so long. She needed to know that he was really here, in the flesh, and not one of her daydreams.

"Ed, I…" She tried to step forward and tripped.

"Winry!" Ben cried out, but Ed's arms – one metal, one flesh – reached out, quick as lighting, to catch her before she hit the ground. She breathed in his scent – uniquely Ed – and sighed before pulling away. He almost looked sad to see her go.

Smiling warmly, she said, "I don't remember you being this affectionate."

Ed laughed. "A lot's changed since the last time I saw you, Winry."

"I also don't remember you being this tall."

He shot her a dark look. She laughed lightly. "Still the same Ed."

"At least when it comes to people poking fun at me about my height," he replied.

The familiar anger she'd felt time and time again over the years he'd been missing flared again and she could see him brace himself for what he knew was coming.

Poking her finger into his stomach, she said, "And where the hell have you been the past fifteen years, Edward Elric?"

Ed flinched, "It's a long story, Winry…"


	3. Equivalent Exchange

**_Equivalent Exchange_**

Human kind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth.

The younger Elric brother, Alphonse, had often been fond of saying that.

The older brother knew a Greater Truth: there was no such thing as Equivalent Exchange.

If you can increase the concentration of oxygen around you, by creating a spark you can cause fire to ignite on the air. If you rearrange the molecules of water and carbon in a person's body into ethanol, you can cause them to evaporate. However, all of these require the correct amounts of elements to already be present.

Alchemy was a science, although it didn't appear to be at first glance. It followed laws and was imminently knowable by anyone who bothered to study it.

There was only one glaring problem.

You can have all the correct amounts of elements of a human body, but an attempted transmutation of those elements into a living, breathing human only creates a soulless monster.

There is no equivalent exchange for a human life. Edward Elric was intimately aware of this.

He also knew that there is also no equivalent exchange for the human experience.

And one boring winter morning, lying quietly in his bed, he realized that was what made him so powerful.


	4. The Space Between

He woke to the sounds of crickets chirping outside his window. It was so quiet in Risembool, much more so than in the city. If he listened hard enough he could hear Rose and Ben's gentle breathing in the nearby rooms.

It was still dark out, but Ed didn't feel like going back to sleep. Feeling restless, he got up, slipped on his shirt and wandered downstairs. The fight after dinner hadn't gone well. Winry had wanted to know where he had been and he just couldn't bring himself to tell her. She'd stormed off and he hadn't seen her again for the rest of the night.

_My_ _first day back and we're already fighting, _he chuckled to himself. _Just like when we were kids._

He eventually found himself outside on the porch gazing up at the stars. The splash of the Milky Way lit up the sky, and the moon was so bright he could still make out the nearest farm in the darkness.

_The universe seems to go on forever,_ he thought.

He heard a floorboard squeak behind him, but he didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"Ed, what are you doing out here?" Winry asked, exasperated.

"Looking at the stars," he replied.

"I can see that, you moron," she retorted.

He turned around slowly, not sure how to proceed. "Winry, I'm sorry…" he started, but she held up her hand to silence him.

"Don't," she said. "Don't give me that crap again. You may have been able to keep your life a secret from me when we were fifteen, Edward, but I won't do it now. I'm tired." She searched his eyes for some response, for anything, but he just stared back at her, empty.

"Winry, you don't understand…" he began.

"Understand what, Edward?" she snapped. "That if you had wanted to come back, you would have? You didn't. Obviously Al and I weren't that important to you." She turned to leave.

"It's not like it was a choice." His voice was intense and quiet.

"What?" she asked sharply.

"I couldn't come back," he said though gritted teeth.

She cocked an eyebrow. "I don't believe you. You could have called, sent word, something to let us know that you were still alive at least."

"No," He cut her off, fire blazing in his eyes. "I couldn't. Even if I told you wouldn't believe me."

"Try me," she replied.

"Equivalent Exchange, Winry. The energy to perform the alchemic transmutations has to come from somewhere." He advanced on her, dark and intense, and she found herself instinctively backing away. She'd never seen him this way before and it scared her.

"There's a gate. I saw it when we first tried to bring Mom back, I saw it again when I pinned Al's soul to the armor, and again when I gave him his body back. The other side is a place called London and the energy alchemists draw on to perform transmutations come from the life energy of the people there."

Winry stared at him, completely horror-stricken. He turned away from her and walked to the edge of the porch.

"Damn it, Winry, if I could have come back from there sooner, I would have." he said. He looked back at her; she had her hand over her heart and was still breathing heavily. He softened. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

Winry nodded mutely and could only watch as he climbed the stairs. Minutes later, she followed; still shaking in shock. She hesitated outside his door and heard the slow steady breathing telling her he was asleep, before going to her own room and climbing into bed.

Across the hall, Edward Elric slept deeply and for the first time in many nights, he did not dream.


	5. Coming to Terms

**_Coming to Terms_**

He hadn't expected Winry to forgive him so quickly. It had barely been dawn when she'd barged into his room demanding that he get up so she could measure him for his automail and he'd been afraid she was still angry.

But while she measured him she had whispered so quietly he was afraid he hadn't heard her right: "You would never lie to me. Omit the truth, maybe, but you would never lie. So if that's where you say you were, then I believe you."

She had smiled meekly at him, and he'd sighed with relief before awkwardly hugging her with his remaining arm.

Fifteen years ago, he had been extremely uncomfortable with touch; his sins were too great, too awful. He'd spent his childhood shying away from the people that cared about him, thinking himself unworthy. However, once he'd been forced from them, potentially unable to return, he'd realized how much he really cared for them, Winry in particular.

She was the childhood friend who'd stood by Ed and his brother through everything and she had always waited for them when they returned from their quest for the Philosopher's Stone.

The brothers had ignored her then, preferring to drown in their guilt with each other. And now that he was older, he felt he could appreciate what she'd done then, and in the last twenty-four hours he'd come to appreciate her even more.

It had taken him years to come to terms with the idea that the deaths of humans powered the alchemic transmutations he'd taken for granted as a child; and he was sure that Winry still hadn't completely understood what he'd told her. Still, maybe since she didn't practice alchemy it wouldn't be as hard for her.

And maybe one day soon he would finally come to terms with his growing affection for the beautifully plain woman that had become his mechanic and confidant.


	6. Nightmare

**_ Nightmare_**

****

Thankfully it was less and less often that Ed would wake up in a cold sweat, images of organs piled upon skin – the creature that was supposed to have been his mother, but wasn't – lying in a corner of his basement still fresh in his mind.

Every alchemy textbook Ed had ever read stated very clearly that human alchemy was a sin. When he was young, he had always assumed it was because the adults couldn't do it. It wasn't until afterwards he'd discovered exactly why it was an unforgivable transgression.

Equivalent Exchange.

Al's body had dissipated into thin air along with Ed's right arm. In a moment of complete desperation, Ed gave his left leg to pin his brother's soul to a nearby suit of armor.

Ed had known that the price was high, but he hadn't anticipated this. When he finally looked over at what was supposed to have been his resurrected mother and all he'd seen was a monster, Ed finally understood why everyone had always said that human transmutation was a sin.

Failed human transmutations created creatures called Homunculi, beings with a mind and a body, but no soul. This creature looked, walked and talked like Trisha Elric, but "Sloth," as she had eventually been named, had no memories of her husband or her life with her sons.

The irony of her name had not been lost on him. And as he had destroyed the homunculus named "Greed," he had, in turn, faced the homunculus that bore his mother's face and destroyed her.

He had nightmares about her destruction as often as her creation.


	7. Little Brother

**_Little Brother_**

Al was… happy. Without him. His little brother had gone off and began a new life without him. It felt like his insides had tangled themselves up into knots.

After everything Ed had gone through to bring his little brother back to his normal self, he has the gall to go off and be _happy? _

"Don't be upset," said Winry. "He doesn't remember anything."

"Nothing at all?" Ed asked, shaking with shock and anger.

"Ed, you returned him to his body. But he aged four years without his body, and so when you gave it back to him, he went back to being a ten-year-old." She looked away, continuing to speak quietly, "He doesn't even remember you trying to bring your mother back."

Ed only stared. How could Al not remember that? When he was young he had taken solace in the fact that his brother had shared in his sins, thusly if he returned Al to his normal body, then his sins would be absolved.

He paid for his brother in fifteen long years in a strange place, and now that he was finally home, the powers that be still weren't finished with him. His brother not only couldn't remember their four years of hell as they traveled in search of the Philosopher's Stone, he couldn't even remember why they were searching in the first place.

He felt the tears begin to slide down his face, but he chose to ignore them. A warm hand covered his own and he looked up into Winry's sad eyes.

"I should be happy for him," he said, struggling to keep his resolve, but it was crumbling. "A State Alchemist and a Minister in the Parliament. It's more than I ever could have done."

Winry never imagined she'd ever witness her childhood friend cry. He had always appeared so strong, like nothing could stand in his way, even when he was young. But when he crumpled to the floor sobbing, the only thing she could think to do was wrap her arms around him and rock back and forth like he was a small child.

After he'd fallen asleep curled up on her lap, she thanked whatever being was in charge of the universe that when he had finally broken down, she had been there for him.


	8. Attachment

**_Attachment_**

Ed sighed on the operating table. The pain part had definitely not changed. He'd forgotten how much connecting and disconnecting the automail hurt. He glanced down at the new leg Winry and Ben had attached and instinctively flexed it. It was nice to have working limbs again.

A grin played about Ed's lips as he recalled the mild awkwardness of the attachment procedure. It was the first time he'd seen Winry as the primary mechanic: she, acting in the place of her grandmother and Ben taking up her place as the apprentice. She'd been self-conscious at first as she instructed Ben on how to detach Ed's extremely rust-frozen arm but eventually she'd fallen into her old work patterns and Ed was impressed with her professionalism. He'd watched Ben listen as she spoke; enrapt in the intricacies of this wire connected to this nerve.

Glancing around the room, Ed noted that very little about the house had changed. It was still as he remembered it from his childhood, save for the small grave out back he could see through the small window nearby. He could only assume it was for Winry's beloved dog, Den. Even the wafting smell of good food simmering downstairs was the same, although it was Rose, the woman he had saved in Lior, cooking instead of Pinako.

_How on earth did she end up here with Winry? _ He wondered. _Probably after…_ he mentally cut himself off. He didn't want to think about it. She was here with Winry, safe and sound, and that was all that mattered. And Al was safe and alive and happy. And Ed… Ed almost felt bad for wanting to intrude on that. Showing up out of the blue fifteen years later. _Maybe he's happier without me. _

Ed watched Winry tightening the screws and loosening the bolts that would shortly make up his new arm. When he was sixteen, he'd wanted nothing more than to regain the flesh arm and leg he'd lost, but now, the mechanical limbs were enough as long as they worked. They were a part of him.

She'd grown older too, but she was still Winry. All those years of automail work had made her lean and muscular. She still had her bandanna to keep her hair out of her eyes, her work jumpsuit cinched at the waist.

He smiled wryly. She also still wore that flimsy piece of fabric she referred to as a shirt.

"Ed, Winry, Ben!" Rose called. "Time for dinner!"

Ben got up and quickly washed the dirt and grime off of his hands and ran downstairs. Winry went over to Ed to help him get up off of the table.

"Ready?" she asked. He nodded.

Winry put her arms gingerly around Ed's torso and used her weight to counterbalance his as they hoisted him up onto his feet. She let out a small gasp of surprise when, instead of letting her go like she expected, he wrapped his arms even tighter around her.

She stood there, unable to move. Ed wasn't like this. The Ed she knew could barely stand to be touched, and he would certainly never hug anyone of his own volition. Still, she felt the tension leave him as she slowly returned his embrace.

"I missed you," he whispered into her hair.

Tears stung her eyes. "I missed you too," she whispered back.

She leaned back to look at him more fully, "Ed, why…" He put a finger to her lips to quiet her.

"Let me just be happy to be here with you for a little longer?" he asked quietly.

She nodded and hugged him one more time before pulling away from him. She smiled at him and said, "Let's go get something to eat, Alchemy freak."

"Machine-freak," he retorted, smiling as he followed her down the stairs to the kitchen.


	9. Hero

**_Hero_**

Ben snuck another glance at the blond man sitting across the table from him. Who was this guy, really? He'd grown up on Aunt Pinako and Winry's stories of Edward Elric, but this man hardly seemed to be the great "Full Metal Alchemist" he'd always heard of.

He knew that Winry and Ed had grown up together, and that he was the older brother of Alphonse Elric, the State Alchemist who came to visit occasionally, but the rest of the stories he'd heard were just too fantastic to be real. This Edward was absolutely nothing like the man in the stories.

He remembered when he was younger he'd ask Winry to tell him a story about the Elric brothers just to see her face light up while she told him about how Edward saved Lior, or his adventures searching for the Philosopher's Stone. He had especially liked the stories about how Edward would break the automail that Winry had built for him and then she'd hit him with her wrench.

Ben had been twelve when Winry apprenticed him as an automail engineer, but he'd been interested in it his whole life (not undue to the Rockbell's influence). He was fascinated with all parts of the process: designs for a particular person keeping in mind what they individually would need, building the automail from really high quality materials, everything! He enjoyed every part of it, save one.

Ben had watched grown men – soldiers even – cry like children at the intense pain of attachment, but this man with the bright golden eyes had done nothing but grunt and grit his teeth.

Maybe he really was the hero of his childhood.


	10. Power

**_Power_**

Ed stood in the doorway watching Winry try to teach Ben how to build a car. She'd recently taken up trying to expand her mechanical knowledge outside of automail (although it was her one true love).

"It'll be good for business," she had said.

The day was sunny and warm, and Ed was glad to be outside. In the month or so since he'd come back, he'd slowly begun assimilating back into normal life again. Well, however "normal" life could be with the small, haphazard family he'd become a part of.

To Ben he had become the favorite uncle: they would wrestle and Ed would tell Ben stories of his quest to find the Philosopher's Stone and all of the people he'd met along the way. Rose treated him like a brother, except during meals where she would coddle him like an overprotective mother.

"You're getting too skinny! You need to eat!" she would say as she piled his plate with seconds and thirds and fourths.

Winry… Winry and he had an interesting relationship. It hadn't taken him long to recognize that his childhood friend had become a woman while he'd been gone, and that the tension that had existed between them when they were kids still existed and was only growing stronger every day.

He'd been able to ignore it for the sake of his brother when they were teenagers, but without Al around, it was getting harder. Especially once Winry realized Ed would allow her to touch him, she seemed to be coming up with any excuse to do so.

Al. Ed hadn't gone to see him. He had resolved not to. It had been too long and if Al was happy without him, then Ed had no reason to intrude on that. Winry wasn't terribly upset by this either. She was sure that Ed would have gone to Al and probably wouldn't have come back, and without Al around to take care of, Ed was finally focusing on someone that needed his attention very badly: himself.

"This is the power source for a car, Ben," Winry instructed. "It's the same kind of power supply we use in automail, just bigger. The alchemic battery is inside here and it fits into the upper-left-hand corner of the engine block."

"Alchemic battery?" Ed asked, incredulous. Automail and cars run on alchemy?

Winry shook her head. "You never listened to me when we were kids, did you?" she called.

Ed flushed. "No," he mumbled.

"Figures." She shrugged and tried to hide a smile. "Yes, all machinery needs a power supply to work properly. For example, in a human arm nerve impulses are simply electrochemical signals sent by your brain via neurons. The power converter sits in the socket of the automail arm and takes these signals and configures them into an electric signal. This allows the user complete control over the arm or leg as if it were a flesh and blood appendage."

"And the converter has an alchemic battery in it?" Ben asked.

"Yes," Winry replied. "The whole world runs on alchemy."

"This world," Ed mumbled.

Winry whipped around, a frown on her face. She regarded Ed for a long moment before speaking softly, "Is there a way to make machinery work without using alchemy?"

Ed furrowed his eyebrows in thought. He had worked as a research scientist for many years in the Other World, but he left the building process to the engineers. He did, however, remember bits and pieces of how engines worked. His brief stint in rocket science had taught him that much. Perhaps there was a way…

His eyes flashed open. _I have an idea._

"How would you guys feel about building a machine that flew?"

"Flew?" Winry asked, flabbergasted.

"Yes," he replied. "An airplane. It's kind of like a car, but it flies instead of running along the ground on wheels."

"Could we fly in it?" Ben asked, getting excited.

"You bet. Only two at a time, though, a pilot and a passenger," Ed answered. He glanced over at Winry, "And it wouldn't run on alchemy."

Winry stared dumbly at Ed for a few moments before running over to him and flinging her arms around him.

"You just made me the happiest girl in the world!" she exclaimed.

Ed blushed and hugged her back. "If that's all it takes to make you happy, I'm sure I can come up with some more stuff to build," he smirked.

She released him, positively glowing with happiness. "When can we get started?"

"How's tomorrow look?"

She smiled brightly at him. "Perfect," she replied.


	11. Across the Divide

A/N: This is a project for my English class, and since its due in a few weeks, I'll try and update at least once or twice a day. And just so you know, everything in this chapter is a matter of the public record. Thanks for all the great reviews!

ooo

**_Across the Divide_**

****

Santa Fe, 1936

He was running as fast as he could. The hot, noonday sun of the New Mexico desert beat down on him making him sweat profusely. Ignoring the growing concentration of sand in his boots, he continued to run through the dunes.

_I have to get to the lab before they do, _he thought. He was briefly reminded of his annoyance that he had been forced to build his lab out in the middle of nowhere, but perhaps it was a good thing. It would take the enemy a few more hours to find it.

The assholes. They had no idea what they were doing and were drunk on the ideals of their own superiority and immortality. Ed had hoped that after his escape from Germany to the United States they would have stopped chasing him, but it seems that once the Thule Society takes an interest in you, they tend to be reticent to let you go.

The telegram he had received earlier that day was still fresh in his mind.

_Edward Elric,_

_We have Paracelsus. Return to Berlin at once. _

"Paracelsus," he spat. "They thought they were being cute." He'd read somewhere that there had been a famous alchemist in the sixteenth century by the name of Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim who had used the nickname of Paracelsus.

The assholes had his father. And Edward knew what they wanted.

He reached the door to the lab and threw himself inside. It was just as he'd left it, so no one had beaten him there. He breathed a sigh of relief. His project lay in its case, untouched. He gingerly picked it up, studying his masterpiece – Winry would have been proud – it was a perfect melding of alchemy and mechanics.

He had meant for it to be a source of electrical power for the world, but since the American government was funding his research, they required that he create a weapon in secret first before beginning research on any practical function.

It had been so simple, really: when a stress is applied to a system at equilibrium the system will adjust to relieve the stress.

In Amestris, he had been taught the law of equivalent exchange in alchemy. This world also had a law of equivalent exchange, but it was called something else: the Law of Conservation of Mass. Matter can neither be created nor destroyed. However, what Amestris alchemists were unaware of was that _energy_ can't be created or destroyed either and energy was what fueled their transmutations.

Amestris alchemists also were unaware of a more important rule: the system doesn't work one way. If the life energies of the people in this world fueled the alchemic transmutations in Amestris, in order for the equilibrium to be maintained the energy _must_ flow back the other direction somehow.

It just took Ed awhile to find out how to harness it. Once he had, the American government assured him that anything he needed would be his. Cold fusion was an impressive feat, and he would be well compensated for his efforts, even if he was a German scientist on the run from the Nazi Party.

He checked the device for any signs of tampering and was about to put it down when something on it caught his eye. He turned it over and bright red numbers blinking, counting down to zero.

_Somebody tripped it. It had to have been the Americans. They knew they were after me. _

The timer blinked 5, then 4, then 3…

His last thought was of Winry and Al and home. He closed his eyes, and the world went black.


	12. The Philosopher's Stone

**_The Philosopher's Stone_**

****

_1935, Santa Fe_

****

It is a blood red crystal that has the power to make a human immortal and rend all the laws of physics completely useless. It has haunted the dreams of thousands of men for centuries. Many have quested for it, and it is said that anyone who gets close to the stone must perish. The legend promises wealth, longevity, spiritual renewal, health; the things that every human desires. As gold is a means to all wealth, the Philosopher's Stone is a means to all_ ends. _It is an end in and of itself.

That is why so many alchemists have spent their whole lives searching for it – even in this world there was a secret society that sought the stone: the Vril Society dreamed of immortality and ultimate power and they wished to create a master race of Aryans by harnessing the power that the stone embodied. But they were only the latest in a long line of seekers, Edward himself not excluded.

Ed remembered sitting in the library searching through Dr. Marco's notes – whose research was the most complete ever conducted – and staring dumbly trying to convince himself that he was reading it wrong.

The main ingredient for a Philosopher's Stone was human life.

To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.

Of course there had been a catch. There was always a catch.

He sighed and turned back to his papers. He was almost glad that alchemy was impossible in this world. It had been the Vril Society that had forced him in this tiny excuse for a lab. His father had gotten involved with the wrong people – this group had members in the highest echelons of the German government, including the Fuhrer, and they would stop at nothing to get what they wanted – and through Hohenheim, they had found him.

The last thing he had wanted was to be drawn in by the Stone again. It had been his whole life during his adolescence – it had caused him to grow up much too fast – and he had no desire to search for it again. He certainly didn't want to help _those_ people find it.

That was how he ended up in Santa Fe, hidden away from the governments and bureaucracies that sought to control him. He wasn't particularly fond of the Americans either, but at least they believed in the tangible, and they mostly let him alone. As long as he came up with something they could use in the battlefield, they would keep him safe and well fed.

His current project involved experiments in cold fusion, but he was failing to see where the energy to complete the reaction would come from. _A Philosopher's Stone would actually be pretty useful right about now, _he thought.

Still, if energy can neither be created nor destroyed – it can only be converted into a different form – then there was no ultimate power in the stone; it was simply the energy that fueled alchemic transmutations solidified.

And if the stone was just a coalescence of energy for alchemists to draw on, then the Gate between the worlds was also a kind of Philosopher's Stone. So, if the energy on this side of the Gate was what all alchemists drew on to perform transmutations in Amestris, and energy can't be created or destroyed…

His eyes widened. _The energy has to flow in both directions. _


	13. Home

**_Home_**

A mildly chilly breeze rustled through the trees and caused several leaves to float down to the ground around him. It was beginning to be autumn now… he'd forgotten what fall was like in Risembool. In Germany it had been dull and gray, and New Mexico didn't really have a fall.

Even after six months, he still could not figure out how he had gotten back. One moment, he'd been in New Mexico, staring at the timer that counted down the last seconds of his life, and the next he'd woken up in the woods outside his childhood home.

_It must have been the bomb_, he thought. _I drew on the energy of this world to make the bomb work, so it must have opened this side of the gate, and it drew me through again. _

His last thoughts had been of this place, and of himself, Winry and Al playing together as children, so it made sense that this was where he had ended up.

He hadn't meant to come here, he had just been walking and found himself outside his old home. There weren't any remnants of the actual house left, just a large area where the house had been that was beginning to be overgrown by various grasses and weeds. His home was gone, forgotten.

It was only now that he was older that he regretted burning the house down. He had thought, at the time, that not having a place to return to would make them continue searching for a way to bring themselves back to normal. It took him many, many years to understand that you never really lose anything. Everything is an exchange… he may have lost his arm and leg, but he never would have had the experiences he had because of it.

"Ed," she called. "What are you doing out here?"

"Reminiscing," he replied as she plopped down beside him. "There are a lot of memories here."

Winry nodded and shifted positions so she could lay her head on his shoulder. Ed blushed slightly in embarrassment, but gently put his arm around her anyway. She was warm against him in the cool evening.

"You do realize that as long as you have me, you'll always have a home, right?" she murmured, shyly.

Ed hugged her tightly. The one constant thing in his life had always been her. She was his family; had always been his family. Even after he'd left her, even after Al had given up on him ever coming home, she was still here.

He leaned back and cupped her cheek with his hand. Her skin was so soft. He tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and smiled at her. "Home," he whispered. "You're my home."

Later, he wouldn't remember who kissed who first, but simply that it was simple and sweet.


	14. Love

**_Love_**

It was her smile that really got to him; her looks of pure joy as she completed what would become someone's arm or leg, or solved a problem, or succeeded in making his favorite dessert.

Amid the blue prints, engineering texts and drafting paper, Edward Elric came to understand why Winry was in love with mechanics. Shortly thereafter, he also realized that he was in love with her. Had probably always been in love with her, he'd just never recognized it.

It had to have been gradual; one morning he woke up and he just knew, like he knew the sky was blue or the grass was green. He loved her, and that was all there was to it. It was simple and deep affection, comfortable and secure.

He hadn't told her, and he didn't imagine he ever would. She just knew. It was in every look, every breath, every soft touch between them. Words were unnecessary.

But he loved her. Loved her so much some times that he felt he would burst.

Sometimes at night, he would stare in wonder of the woman lying beside him, her pale hair tangling with his bright, bodies pressed tightly together and wonder how he had come to be so lucky.


	15. Evaporated

**_Evaporated_**

"I am not getting in that plane."

"Oh, come on, Rose. It's perfectly safe."

"There isn't enough money in the world to get me up in that thing. I like it right here on the ground, thank you very much."

Winry and Ben were laughing hysterically at Ed attempting to drag Rose into the plane. She was a strong woman, but she was still no match for Ed. Ed just grinned.

"But it'll be fun!" he taunted.

"No. It. Won't." Rose finally ripped herself away from him and ran to the door of the house to catch her breath. "I'm impressed that it flies at all."

"Hey!" Ben protested. "Those were my plans!" He crossed his arms and glowered.

"And mighty fine plans they were too, Ben." Winry ruffled his hair.

Ben glared at Winry as he tried to smooth his hair. "Could you keep your woman in line, Ed?"

Ed shrugged and smiled. "You know I can't make her do anything," he replied.

"Damn straight," she agreed.

"Well if you all don't mind, I'm going in the house to finish cooking dinner," Rose stated, still straightening her dress.

Winry turned to her, "Do you need some help?"

Rose shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. Just send Ben or Ed in soon so I can make one of them set the table." She winked at Ed before heading back into the house.

"I'm going to go polish the plane some more," Ben said.

Winry laughed. "Ben, if you keep polish the wings anymore there won't be any metal to polish left!"

"Eh, let the boy go. It is his baby, after all," Ed said as he walked over to Winry and slung his arm around her shoulder.

"Good point," she replied. "It took the poor boy two years to build the thing, even with our help."

"There was a lot I didn't remember, but the design he came up with is pretty similar to what I do remember. He's spent so much time on this thing that I had to pick up his slack in the shop." Ed shook his head. "I still can't believe I'm helping you build automail for a living."

"Well, what else were you going to do?" she asked. "You won't use alchemy anymore. You could have gone back to the military if you had wanted to…"

"No," Ed cut her off. "That was never an option."

Winry leaned in to kiss his cheek. "I'm glad you didn't go back," she said quietly.

"I'm glad I didn't either." He said as he kissed her softly.

"Ed! Winry!" Ben came running up the drive. "There's some guy in a military uniform heading this way!"

Winry saw Ed begin to panic and put a reassuring hand on his arm. "If they haven't figured out that you're here by now, then they don't know you're here. Calm down."

"But what's the military doing in Risembool?" Ed fearfully.

As he approached, Ed relaxed as he realized that it was no one he knew. It was a low-ranking soldier in a standard-issue blue uniform. He smirked a bit at the uniform. They had never made him wear the uniform; as a State Alchemist who didn't work in Central he had been allowed to wear whatever he wanted.

"I am Sergeant Mitchell. I was sent to investigate some rumors about a flying machine."

"You're here about our plane?" Ben blurted out.

The soldier studied Ben for a moment before addressing the Ed and Winry. "Yes. I am here about the… plane."

Ben glared at the soldier. "I will have you know that I designed that thing. Ed helped me plan it out, but I did most of the work."

The soldier's stony face never changed. "And how did you know how to build such a thing?"

"Ben, don't answer," Winry said sharply. "What does the military want with our plane?"

"The military is very interested in seeing if the rumors of a flying machine that can carry people and other things are true. It would be incredibly useful in our defense systems."

"Oh no," Ed cut in. "I am not letting the military use this for anything. I've had enough of the military using my ideas."

"I have been ordered to take the engineers into custody and taken them to Central where you will be brought before the Parliament," Mitchell replied. "This is not a choice, sir."

Ed felt Winry grab onto his arm and say, "I'm coming with you whether you like it or not."

He nodded and then turned back to Mitchell, "Let us pack some things and we'll go."

Mitchell nodded curtly.

Ed and Winry packed their things in silence; their happy haze of the last two years broken. Ed couldn't help but think of the last time he'd been called to Central; he hadn't returned for over four years and he prayed that this time he would be allowed to return to his home, his family before that long. But somewhere deep in his mind, he knew that probably wouldn't happen.

He looked at Winry packing her things and something in his chest loosened as he realized that he might never get another chance to tell her.

"I love you," he murmured.

Winry froze momentarily, but then she smiled softly at him and said, "I know."

After they had gathered the last of their things, and said goodbye to Rose and Ben, Mitchell ushered them into the waiting carriage down the road. Together they looked through the back window, watching the life they had built together evaporate, and knowing that if they ever returned, they would never be the same.


	16. Return

**_Return_**

The train ride into Central was uneventful, but he had not expected the whispers that followed him as he walked down the corridor behind Sergeant Mitchell. He had hoped that everyone who remembered him would have retired or put in for a transfer by now, but apparently the stories hadn't really faded.

His personal favorite had been, "That can't be the Fullmetal Alchemist. He's too tall." He'd had half a mind to turn around and hit them, but Winry stopped him before he got a chance. He wasn't fifteen anymore and he couldn't throw a fit every time someone teased him about being short.

He sighed; he was also feeling extremely anxious. Somewhere in this long hallway of doors was his brother, and he suddenly felt guilty for not coming to see him.

_Either way, it would have been messy, _he thought.

"Edward Elric?"

Ed turned around to see who had called his name; it had been a female voice but he couldn't quite place it.

"It can't be. Are you Edward Elric?" The blond woman simply stared at him for a moment until her eyes suddenly went wide and saluted him. "Fullmetal, sir. It is good to see that you are well."

"Hawkeye?" he asked incredulously before breaking into a grin. "How've you been? How's Colonel Mustang?"

"Senator Mustang, sir," she corrected. "And my husband is fine."

"Husband?" Winry asked, surprised.

"Yes. We've been married for about five years now," she replied. "I am glad to have ran into you sir, I will inform the Senator that you are in good health, but I must go as I am needed in Parliament very shortly. Good day." She turned sharply and walked off down the hallway.

Ed glanced at Winry and cocked an eyebrow, and she shrugged, "Who knew?" Ed nodded.

"She must have been mistaken." The pair turned to their guide who had suddenly gone pale. "You can't be him."

"What are you talking about, Sergeant?" Ed asked, annoyed.

"The Fullmetal Alchemist. You can't be him; he died nearly fifteen years ago!" Mitchell replied.

"No, I'm afraid I'm not dead. I am Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist," Ed smirked.

Winry smacked him on the arm. "Stop it, Ed. You're scaring the poor man to death." Winry couldn't help but feel for him, the poor man was shaking in fear.

"I can't help it if it's true, Winry," Ed replied.

"It's true then," a new voice cut in. "I'd heard rumors that you'd resurfaced, Fullmetal." The Colonel turned Senator stood a few doors down. Ed wasn't surprised to see that he hadn't changed much save for a few wrinkles and his black hair had become more salt and pepper.

"Mustang," Ed said flatly. "Still as sarcastic as ever. I would have thought marriage would have mellowed you out a bit."

"That's Senator Mustang to you, Mr. Elric, and my wife prefers me this way." Roy smiled before turning to Mitchell, "You are dismissed, Sergeant. I will escort Mr. Elric and Miss Rockbell to the session of Parliament as ordered."

Mitchell returned Roy's salute and marched off. Winry couldn't help but giggle. _I wonder if he could have gotten out of here fast enough. What kind of stories are they telling the new recruits about Ed?_

"It's good to see you, Edward. Riza told me you were here and I thought you would like to see a familiar face," Roy said as he invited the pair into his office.

"What are we doing here?" Ed asked. "I just built a plane."

Roy sat behind his desk with a furrowed brow. "It is precisely the plane that they want, Edward. The rumors told of a machine that flew and ran without using alchemy. That could be a very powerful weapon, especially considering the current public backlash against the use of alchemy after all of the rebellions."

Roy stared hard at Edward. "We thought you were dead. Clearly, you are not, but you have been somewhere no one else has gone. The government will want to know where you were and what you learned there."

Ed stayed silent.

"Edward, I want to help. I know you don't want to be dragged into the military again, but I have to warn you. Things are almost as bad now as they were with the Fuhrer. The people have become so terrified of rebellion they've elected people who are more interested in their own personal power than they are of protecting people," Roy said sadly. "I had hoped that an elected government would be better than one person controlling everything, but sometimes I feel that the people really don't know what's best for them."

"Is my brother one of those people?" Ed asked quietly. He stared at his hands, as he talked, unable to look at Roy.

Roy cocked an eyebrow at Edward. "Haven't you seen your brother? I assumed he would have been the first person you would go to visit."

Winry flushed, as Ed looked on, completely miserable. "He seemed happy," Ed mumbled. "I didn't want to ruin it for him. So I've been staying with Winry the past two years."

Roy's jaw dropped, but he quickly recovered. "No, Ed," he said. "To answer your question, Al is completely committed to making Amestris better. The Storm Alchemist has really been a progressive voice in the Parliament."

"Storm Alchemist?" Winry asked, surprised. "I haven't seen since he passed the State Alchemist exam."

"Yes. He actually has quite a talent for dealing with the weather, surprisingly enough. He rarely does anything with alchemy anymore, though. He's a paper pusher now." Roy sighed audibly. "But he is at the mercy of the rest of the senate, you realize. He won't help you."

There was a loud knock at the door.

"Come in!" Roy ordered.

Another young soldier came in and saluted his superior. "Senator Mustang, you have been asked to sit in on a special committee regarding this new discovery. Please escort Mr. Elric and Miss Rockbell to the Senate Chamber Room."

Roy hesitated, and then nodded. "Time to go," he said.

Ed squeezed Winry's hand and followed Roy down the hall.

The chamber room was dark except for a well-lit stage with two chairs in the center of the room. Roy signaled for Winry and Ed to go sit in the center while he took his place with the other senators. The lights were blinding and neither of them could make out the faces of any of the senators.

"Mr. Elric, Miss Rockbell," someone said. "We are glad to have you join us."

"It's not like we were really given a choice in the matter," Ed said angrily.

"Are you really Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist and brother to Senator Alphonse Elric?" someone else asked, disbelieving.

It was extremely annoying to not know to whom he was speaking and he was growing more agitated by the minute. He was about to answer, but another voice cut him off.

"Yes. That is my brother."

_Great. Al's here too, _he thought. Ed squinted trying to find his brother in the dark mass of bodies that surrounded the stage, but Al stayed conveniently out of sight.

"It's been a long time, brother," Al said.

"Yes it has," Ed replied.

"This is a heartwarming moment for a family reunion, but let us get down to brass tacks, shall we?" A large, elderly man sitting near the front said irritated. "Mr. Elric, we have heard rumors that you have built a flying machine that does not depend on alchemy to run. Is this true?"

Ed swallowed hard. "Yes."

"Where did you learn to build such a thing?"

"Who said I had to learn to build something? Why couldn't I have just invented it?" Ed retorted. He really didn't want to have to explain his whereabouts during his fifteen year absence.

"Because you were gone for seventeen years, Mr. Elric." A stately looking older senator came down to the floor. "We are concerned that you seem to have spent some time with outside of our country and you will not tell us what you learned while you were gone."

The senator paced the stage in front of where Ed and Winry sat. "We are willing to be lenient with you, but you must tell us where you were and what you were doing while you were there."

He turned suddenly to face Ed and stared at him with hard eyes. "For all we know you deserted the army and gave away all of our military secrets. I will warn you that desertion carries very strict penalties."

Ed's eyes narrowed. "Are you threatening me, sir?"

"No," he answered simply. "I am only saying the truth. Are you refusing to tell us where you were?"

"I'm not saying a damn word," Ed retorted.

The senator turned to the rest of the senators. "I hereby recommend that Edward Elric be placed under house arrest until further notice until we can ascertain his… whereabouts for the past seventeen years."


	17. Al

**_Al_**

Al slammed the door when he walked into his office and sank into his chair.

Ed was back. His brother was back.

At least someone had had the good sense to tell him before he'd walked into that committee meeting.

And now Ed was under house arrest for desertion.

Al sighed. At least he had come back, unlike their father.

He had been angry for so long, and now that he had finally come to terms with his brother abandoning him just like their father did, his brother had returned.

Actually, to be more specific, he had returned to _Winry_. If they had never built this damned plane-thing, he might never have known his brother was alive at all.

Al balled his fists. After his brother had disappeared, he had done nothing but search for a way to get back to his brother. He had learned alchemy, become a State Alchemist against the wishes of his teacher, and nothing worked.

He'd woken up one day, a happy-go-lucky ten year old, his brother gone and Winry suddenly five years older than he was. He'd been angry, of course. Something had happened, but apparently the only person who knew was Ed, and he had disappeared.

_I was so stupid. Everyone told me it was time to let go, that he was dead, he would want me to be happy; but I kept on looking anyway! It took me ten years to come to grips with what I thought was the truth – and now he has the gall to come home and not even let me know he was still alive!_

Guilt washed over him; he'd gone and confronted his brother after the hearing. There had been no reason for Ed to stay away that long and there was absolutely no excuse for Ed to not come see him as soon as he had gotten back to Amestris; to tell him that no matter what his life was like he would have made room in it for his brother.

Ed had been quiet though his entire tirade, and did not speak until Al finished; and even then all he said was, "I'm sorry. I thought you were happier without me."

Al was speechless; and not because he was angry that his brother thought that, but because deep down, he knew it was true.

The thing is, he _was_ happy. He had been elected a senator at a very young age; he was the second youngest State Alchemist in history, second only to Ed himself. He had a loving girlfriend he had been considering proposing to, and… seventeen years is a really long time.

He had the sudden urge to hit something. Hard.

Al didn't know whom he was angrier at: Ed for coming home without his help, or himself for giving up the search for his brother.

When he'd been elected to Parliament, he had justified ending his search by telling himself that Ed would have wanted him to be happy. And now, although he didn't want to admit it, he wasn't really angry with Ed. He was angry at the world because of the way it had turned out, because of everything they had gone through.

And now… he had been placed in charge of his brother's interrogation. He was not looking forward to this.


	18. Interrogation

A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews. You've all made my week. :o) This is kind of an interlude, things should start picking up again soon.

****

**_Interrogation_**

The room was old and white and stank of the "criminals" who'd come before him. He couldn't even remember how long he'd been in this god-forsaken place, they'd been in this god-forsaken place. He barely registered Winry's presence nearby; she hadn't moved in what seemed like hours, eyes completely glazed over. The hours had grown into days, the days into weeks, and eventually all he knew were the occasional meals of bread and water, the restless sleep, and the occasional comings and goings of his brother as he waited him out.

It had become a game almost – one neither were willing to yield. He wouldn't tell them what they wanted to know. He _couldn't_ tell them. And Al continued to stare at him, waiting for him to break.

Once upon a time… he might have been able to tell Al. But the Al he knew would never have allowed himself to be set up as an antagonist to his brother.

Images of Barry the Chopper and Al's subsequent identity crisis flashed across his mind's eye. Al had been used then, and he was being used now, sitting across from him, eerily calm in the awful, dim lighting.

He couldn't tell Al what he wanted to know; it was too risky, telling Al would mean telling the entire rest of the world. And the rest of the world didn't need to know. And so Ed sat there day after day, staring back at his brother as his eyes slowly lost their focus.

ooo

The silence in the room was deafening. He had seen Winry, seen how weak she had become, and he knew his brother, underneath his stubborn exterior was really fairing no better. Day after day, all he did was sit and watch as the light that was his brother flicker slowly and eventually blow out.

It had been three weeks. Three excruciating, miserable weeks. Ed had fought and yelled and screamed (as he'd expected) for the first few days, but eventually had simply acquiesced to the situation.

He'd had no idea how difficult this had been when he'd accepted the job. He imagined Ed would fight him – and he felt he deserved to retaliate a bit. But every day after he left, his heart broke a little more and he hated himself and everyone else a little more. He hated his superiors making him do this, hated himself for almost wanting to make his brother suffer. Hated Ed for putting him in this position.

He had not apologized, nor offered any explanation of his absence. And because of that, Al continued, every day, to sit at that table, his brother across from him, waiting for him to speak.

At night, he would cry for penance from an unjust God and pray that the dreams that kept him awake at night would subside.


	19. Politics

**_Politics_**

****

"Senator Elric, you do realize that it is imperative you get your brother to talk."

"He has nothing to say, if he did, he would have told me already. I'm his brother, we used to tell each other everything."

"With all due respect, Senator, your relationship with your brother has seriously weakened more than you realize, and calls your ability to interrogate him into question."

"Then why did you place him in charge of Edward's interrogation, Prime Minister?"

"Ah, Senator Mustang, how nice of you to grace us with your presence."

"No need for the formalities, we are both aware that you would rather take all the credit for discovering what else lies within the mind of the Full Metal Alchemist."

"Senator Mustang, you misunderstand me. I merely wish to ensure the proper attainment of the information we desire."

"No. You want to be re-elected."

"That is also an incentive."

"I'm glad to see that you are at least honest about that."

"The land of Xing to the East is gathering its forces, and with all of the rebellions in our midst, it won't be long before they find the right time to strike. We _must_ have weapons that they do not in order to survive.

It is clear that the Full Metal Alchemist did not learn how to build that flying machine in Amestris, otherwise we would have known about it. He must have learned how to build that airplane from somewhere else. Was it Xing? Or Drachma, or other insurgents in Ishbal? In seventeen years, I doubt that was the only thing he learned. And why did our intelligence only pick this up now? There are many questions, gentlemen, and we will have the answers."

"Yes, sir."

"I want a smoking gun, Senator Elric. I want to know where he was. Even more than that, I want to know what other things he knows how to build, things that will help us maintain the security of this nation. Your loyalty to your brother is hindering this, and it is because of that that I am hereby taking you off this case. Senator Thomas will be handling this from now on."

"Senator Thomas is known for her unusual interrogation methods, Prime Minister, are you sure this is wise?"

"As the emotional tactic seems to have failed, Senator Mustang, I must insist that this is our last option. I will have that information, and I have the backing of the entire Senate, aside from the two of you."

"When did this occur?"

"Yesterday, at my behest, I held an emergency meeting of the Senate. You two just seemed to have missed the memo."

"That was sneaky and deceitful and it was _my_ case, and _my _brother! How dare you discuss his fate without me?"

"Because you, Senator Elric, are biased. You have proven that you are incapable of extracting the information we need from your brother, and now the Senate has voted to terminate your position as Investigator. I'm sorry, Senator. Senator Thomas will be expecting your report in the morning. Good day, gentlemen."


	20. Warning

_**Warning**_

Ed watched Al cautiously enter the room from the table in the interrogation room. He had expected this day to begin and end like all the others, but he could tell from the defeated look in his brother's eyes that today was different.

Al looked at his brother, and said brokenly, "I've been taken off of your case, brother."

Ed could only stare in shock as Al continued, "As of tomorrow, Senator Thomas will be interrogating you," he narrowed his eyes, "And I warn you not to underestimate her _unusual_ interrogation methods."

The silence in the room was deafening as Al watched his brother's eyes flicker with turmoil and finally come to a decision. He met his brother's gaze evenly.

"You know I never would have left on purpose," Ed said quietly.

Al softened. "I know."

"I'm sorry, Al, for everything. I didn't want any of this."

"I know, brother," Al hesitated, "I didn't want this either."

Ed looked up at his younger brother, his eyes shining with unshed tears. "They won't hurt Winry will they?" he asked.

He saw Al grimace, and that was all he needed to know. He turned away, but whispered, "Please don't let them hurt Winry, she's not involved in this, and she doesn't deserve this."

Al approached Ed cautiously and laid a hand lightly on his shoulder. Ed turned to him, slightly shocked at the contact but stilled as he saw the raw fear and worry in his eyes.

"Listen quickly, Ed, they don't know I'm here to warn you. You need to get out of here, Ed. They won't stop until they get what they want out of you. They want a weapon, or something they can use to defend themselves against outside attackers. If you don't want to hurt people anymore then you need to get the hell out of here. Get _her_ out of here."

Ed nodded. "I love you, brother," he said, his voice almost inaudible.

Al gave a tight smile before quickly nodding his head and walking quickly out of the door without a second glance at Ed.

He cried all of the way back to his office, not even bothering to hide his tears.


	21. Broken

_**Broken**_

Ed hung his head in his hands and sobbed.

_I can't believe I told them about the bomb._

He'd promised to do everything: design blue prints, oversee construction of the damn thing; hell, they'd even promoted him to the rank of Colonel for his "cooperation."

They hadn't fed him and Winry anything more than bread and water. He'd watched Winry get paler and paler every day for the past three weeks; eventually she'd grown so weak that she wouldn't move from the corner she was huddled in. When the guards came with their final "offer," she hadn't even flinched as the knife grazed her throat. That was the moment he broke completely. He may have lost his brother, but he wasn't about to lose her too.

They were coming for him tomorrow to begin the design phase.

He would get out before then. And he would get Winry out too. He didn't know where they would go, but it would be far, far away from here.

_So this is what the government of the people has become._


	22. Relativity

_**Relativity**_

The energy that flows between the two worlds moves through the gate in both directions – the bomb had proven that much. But how was he supposed to make a bomb on _this _side of the Gate?

Could he even access the gate anymore? He hadn't performed any transmutations since he'd returned to Amestris, much less something as huge as that.

He'd spent his whole life reaching for things beyond his grasp, and because of that he had always remained at the mercy of those in power: the Fuhrer, the German Government, and now the Amestresian government. It never ends.

He was so very tired… all he wanted was to go home to Risembool and Winry and live out the rest of his days there in quiet anonymity.

He thought of his teachers from Munich; Einstein had run off to the United States around the same time Edward had left. Things had gotten much too dangerous in Germany. Last he'd heard Einstein had been working on a way to unify all forces, to make a "theory of everything."

Ed had never really been able to wrap his head around most of his mentor's theories. The idea that time was relative to the observer and that gravity was a result of the curvature of space-time did not make any sense to him.

But if he was right… then by all accounts things can happen before they're supposed to happen, or later than they were supposed to. Fifteen years in Amestris may not mean fifteen years in Germany.

He'd heard rumors of a new theory bouncing around Europe before he'd left; rumors of particles going where the experimenters wanted them to be instead of where they should have been. That would explain how he wound up in Risembool again.

If those rumors were true…

Then alchemy really was no better than magic.


	23. Vanishing

_**Vanishing**_

Even though he hadn't practiced Alchemy in nearly twenty years, he knew none of the State Alchemists even stood a chance against him.

Edward was one of the few known alchemists who did not need a transmutation circle; while everyone else was drawing on the ground with chalk, he simply needed to clear his mind and clap his hands as preparation. But now they were coming for him and there was nothing he could do to stop them.

He quietly snuck into Winry's room and shut the door behind him. She stirred slightly in bed, but she was still weak from the interrogation. He knelt beside her bead and pushed her hair out of her eyes.

She opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"Winry, we've got to get out of here," he whispered. "I have an idea, but you're going to have to trust me."

She nodded. "I love you," she mouthed.

"I know," he whispered back. He drank in the sight of her, tired and weak, but powerful. He was terrified he might never see her again, but if it worked – they would be safe, and together. He thought of his mentor again, _Your theories better be right, Albert._

Determined, he clapped his hands as she wrapped her arms around him. He kissed her as hard as he could while the world around him faded to black.


	24. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

The light from Winry Rockbell's room nearly blinded everyone within a ten-foot radius of the door. Upon entry they found the room empty and the two prisoners gone.

Senator Mustang was called in to investigate, but after several months, his findings were declared inconclusive and the investigation was dropped. The official story in the papers was that the famous Fullmetal Alchemist had simply disappeared again, and his name faded into legend once more.

Senator Alphonse Elric was appointed to the President's Cabinet as Minister of Science and Technology shortly thereafter, but he found himself reticent to take the position. Part of him wanted to continue the search for Ed and Winry himself until he found a memo on his desk: _Be happy. If he's done it once, I'm sure he can do it again. Edward is alive and well._

Al smiled. _Thanks, Roy_, he thought.

Senator Roy Mustang was eventually elected Prime Minister, and governed well for several years before stepping down to allow his primary advisor to succeed him. He and his wife retired to a comfortable home by the sea and fell out of the public eye.

Prime Minister Alphonse Elric governed Amestris through a long period of peace and prosperity. He married and had a son, whom he named Edward in honor of his brother, who grew up to be just as much of a trouble maker as his namesake.

Al never stopped missing his brother, but knew that in his heart, Edward would have wanted him to be happy, just as Al hoped that wherever he was, Edward was happy too.


	25. Veritas Hominum

_**Veritas Hominum**_

Human kind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth.

The younger Elric brother, Alphonse, had often been fond of saying that.

The older Elric brother knew a Greater Truth: there was no such thing as Equivalent Exchange.

The flood of images at the Gate was quite clear: we are all connected, and we are all One.

We are all made up of _energy._

Einstein had been right all along; string theory was proven by alchemy. Equivalent Exchange can't exist if you're simply trading out energy for energy.

Human Life, the Human Experience, they are all manifestations of that energy. The energy that fuels alchemic transmutations also fuels suns and causes atoms to spin in space. It is fueled in turn by human thought and love and experiences.

The Philosopher's Stone was a mean to all ends, but those who searched for it were destined to be unhappy because they did not realize that the real power lay in not having everything, but in being happy with what you have.

He had lost a brother, but gained a wife. He had lost his parents, but gained his own children. He had left his home but discovered a new world. There is no happiness without sorrow.

Life wasn't perfect, but it wasn't supposed to be. The True beauty of life lay in its imperfections.

And that was the _Veritas Hominum_ – the Truth of Men.


End file.
